Waitrose sales outgrow rivals for fourth consecutive month

Sales at Waitrose grew 0.5 percentage points more than its supermarket rivals for the four weeks ended 9 August 2025, according to data from NIQ Scantrack seen by The Telegraph.

This growth marked the fourth consecutive month it has outgrown its rivals as it revamped its stores and improved its customer service.

In the latest period, sales across the wider grocery market were up by around 2pc, the figures showed.

Waitrose first began to see a sales boost in April, just after M&S was hit by a cyber attack, with sales growing 0.6 percentage points faster than the market in the four weeks to May 17.

It comes after Waitrose committed to spending £1bn on new and existing stores over the next three years. As a result, the company is preparing to open 100 new stores by 2029 and refurbish almost half of its existing estate, equivalent to 150 shops.

The John Lewis Partnership is expected to announce next week that its losses have widened in the first half of the year, but analysts expect that the company is on track to post a pre-tax profit for the full year.

This would be welcomed by staff who have been promised the return of the staff bonus once the company returns to profitability.

It comes after the partnership announced the appointment of Tom Denyard as the managing director of Waitrose.

He will join the group in January, succeeding James Bailey who has decided to leave Waitrose at the end of September. Tina Mitchell, currently retail director, is stepping up as interim managing director until Denyard arrives.

Denyard moves from Tesco, where he has held a number of senior roles including managing director of Tesco Online, CEO of Tesco Mobile and COO of Tesco stores in Malaysia. He also held various positions in food buying at Tesco.